I think I'm done!

I went through the assignments page and I think I am done. Here is my wiki if you want to check it out. I will not be in class Friday so I thought I would share it now. Let me know what you think...especially if I am missing something. Thank you all for another wonderful class!

Photoshop has come a long way

We all know Photoshop is a pretty impressive piece of software. However, the new features in Photoshop CS5 will amaze you. This YouTube video will show how the newest version will automatically take objects out of pictures and fill in the background with one click! You will also be able to move object by dragging them around, and the background will automatically adjust. Just watch the video and be amazed.

With Adobe making photo manipulation better and easier, what does this say about images we see on billboards, magazines, TV, or online? Do you look at pictures with a skeptical eye? or believe what you see? Leave comments in the section below.

Sketchup and 3d Modeling

I have received a few questions on Google Sketchup so I thought I would post some helpful videos.

What is Sketchup?

Google Sketchup Warehouse - a collection of 3d models.

Downloadable tutorials - Make a house in minutes!

Physical Science or Mechanical people watch this. This is sketchyphysics. It is a plug-in for Sketchup. Very cool.

Star Wars fans?

Bias Reports and Copyright

I recently read this techdirt.com article on how Joe Biden hosted a “Piracy Summit” that included all stake holders. The author of this article complains that no one representing consumers where present and much of the discussion was behind closed doors. I like to read articles from techdirt.com and others, but when the author is so clearly biased it insults me. The article never acknowledges that stealing intellectual property is a real problem and, maybe more importantly, it is morally wrong. We all like free stuff, but complaining about government upholding and enforcing the law is too far.
It seems that my generation and younger individuals have very little respect for copyright. I know very few people my age or younger who have an issue with illegally downloading songs or software. The attitude seems to be that “if it doesn’t hurt anyone then why not do it?” Even if it takes money away from a pop star or record label the impact is so small per person they dismiss it as no real harm done. I remember hearing a student telling me that even though he steals almost all of his music it doesn’t matter because he will go see them in concert or buy their t-shirt. He even showed me an article on how free downloads actually help artist gain exposure. The more music that is stolen the more successful monetarily an artist seems to be. These are not my views, but in my experience it seems to be the prevailing view of the 15-25 year olds today

Google Street View hits the Olympic slopes!

Google equipped a snowmobile with its Street View equipment to show users what the ski trails look like for the 2012 Olympic Alpine skiing events. Google even made sure to create 3d models of the buildings at the resort to show up when you are using Google Earth. Side note: you can create 3d models to be uploaded to Google maps using Google Sketchup. Sketchup is a free, easy to use, 3d modeling program. So in less than an hour you could create a 3d model of your own house and upload it to Google for everyone in the world to see. What will Google do next when it comes to creating a virtual world? Maybe record sounds of the streets? What do you think?

Mr. YouTube…The computer teacher I never had.

YouTube is a great resource to find video tutorials on just about anything. The summer before I started teaching technology I watched dozens of how to software videos. Like many of you, Audacity was new to me and looked a little intimidating. After watching just one video I was able to put together a short podcast. That summer I did attend some professional development days to learn Google docs and Scratch. I did learn a lot during those sessions; however I think I could have learned just as much watching tutorials online. It was clear to me that you do not have to wait for a professional development day to learn software. That goes for students as well. This last semester I had students find a tutorial of something they wanted to learn about as an independent learning project. It worked pretty well. I also had some students create their own tutorials to put on YouTube.

40 mph man!?

This article has little to do with technology education but I had to write something about it since I am a track coach. You may have heard that the 100 meter dash world record was broken by a Jamaican who runs at about 27 miles per hour. A recent study found that humans could possible run up to 40 mph! The human body can produce the strength to travel at this speed, but the limiting factor is how fast our muscles can contract. Some training techniques do allow us to develop faster contractions, but it’s not enough. Maybe through some gene therapy or some sort of muscle shocking system the human body could travel at high speeds. Crazy!

iPad take two.

Last week I came down a little hard on Apple’s iPad. Even though it doesn’t have expandable memory, camera, keyboard, and the name is a little silly, the iPad will probably be more successful than I first thought for three reasons.
Reason 1: When the iPod was released years ago it too did not get a warm welcome. The device didn’t really sell well for the first two years, but now it dominates the market even though cheaper alternatives exist.
Reason 2: The iPad is an Apple product. Apple has an ever growing following over the last decade that seems to love Steve Job’s creations.
Reason 3: The internet is used more and more to consume media. My students use the internet for almost all of their entertainment needs. Whether it is games, videos, blogs, or music, it looks like the iPad will do any of these very well.